After the Feast

I had food poisoning once about 20 years ago. My then husband and I had eaten dinner at a country club in San Antonio at the end of a tournament he had played in. It was the sickest I had ever been. The culprit was beef tips and I've never eaten them since. I have always been a little fearful since then of picnic and holiday food. It never stopped me from eating, but I was very conscious of how I was feeling for several hours after eating. After a late Thanksgiving lunch we settled in to watch one of the dozen Christmas movies I had lined up for the day while we waited for the UT v. A&M game to begin. Seven hours after dinner, the game began. UT never gave A&M a chance and I was already drifting off to sleep as the game ended feeling content to have had some of my family with me for the day and a victory over the Aggies. Less than an hour after falling asleep it happened. Without going into the gruesome details let it suffice to say I was as sick as I have ever been. Unlike the first time though I was running a high fever, had chills and no one else was sick. A few hours into my misery Erin informed me that I was experiencing the exact same symptoms she had experienced last week in Texas. Forty-hours later, the symptoms are gone, but the thought of even looking at leftovers brings on a wave of nausea. In fact, I cannot imagine ever eating any of the holidays foods I love again. It's sad to think that it could happen, but on the other hand, maybe I could get through Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners without gaining weight.

Alivia can have my share.

Thanksgiving Eve

Thanksgiving it seems has become a day of firsts for me. Three years ago was the first Thanksgiving I had ever spent without my family. They were in Texas and I was in New York. A dear friend invited me to spend the day with him and his family. They live in Yonkers and are Puerto Rican/Chinese. The meal was interesting and delicious, but it didn't seem like Thanksgiving. Last year was my first Thanksgiving as a grandmother and the first without my mother either in person or on the other end of the phone telling how to prepare my food. It was only made bearable by the presence of my daughters and granddaughter. This Thanksgiving will be the first year that Elyse will not be with family and only the second time that I have not been with her. I plan to cook a meal for 10 even though there will only be 3 1/2 of us. The meal will be minus a few of the standards, but will include macaroni and cheese, a new tradition added last year in honor of Alivia. This year she will even get to eat it. I am hoping that by spending the day in the kitchen I will not have time to dwell on the people in my life that I am missing. I am hoping that I will focus on the things I have to be thankful for; a healthy family, a job, living in a place I love, good friends and I am for the most part healthy. I am writing this tonight so I can feel sad now and hopefully not tomorrow, because tomorrow is Happy Thanksgiving!

13

I am not one to want to see the same Broadway show over and over again. If the show is good, and the cast changes, I would see a show more than once. I did see A Chorus Line 3 times, but only because I had visitors from out of state and a group of friends wanted me to go with them for a night out. I saw Boeing, Boeing when the cast changed. Tonight I saw 13 for the third time in as many months. Furthermore, if the chance arrives before its January 4th closing, I will see it again. The show is great. The story line good. The singing amazing. However, the thing that makes it stand out is the fact that the actors and musicians are teenagers, incredibly talented teenagers. I am so sorry that it is closing, because there are several people I would love to have see it and unlike movies, you can't rent it to see later. I am sure that all these young people will continue to have great careers in theater if that is what they want. Good luck 13! Is that redundant or an oxymoron?

Eddie: Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?
Malcolm: When you hold your breath till you almost choke, that a little bit of pee comes out.

Karma

Before I begin let me point out that the Karma I am talking about is my dog. She is a cute mostly Cairn Terrier that I rescued several years ago from a shelter. We have a love/hate relationship. Most of the time I love her. But she has her moments, like yesterday. My terrace has a private gated entrance, but there is nothing to separate my apartment entrance from that of the main house except a few bushes. When I am sitting outside, which is often, Karma will go through the bushes and escape the yard area through the driveway. When I am ready to go in, I call her. Usually she will quickly appear at the gate, on the outside. Try as I might, I cannot get her to go back the way she came. She can't seem to figure out how she got there. This has been going on for over a year. So I make the little walk to the gate to let her back in while remarking under my breath at how stupid she is. She really does appear to be stupid, like when she is at a dog park. All the other dogs are chasing the balls or sticks or whatever is being thrown. The pack takes off after the object and Karma takes off too. Only she is not chasing the object, she is chasing the other dogs. The casual observer would believe that she too is chasing whatever the other dogs are chasing. They soon realize their mistake when the object is caught and the dogs stop running. Immediately Karma tucks tail and runs with all her might as if she thinks that they will have seen her following them and will now chase her down and assault her. And this is just one of many examples of why anyone who knows and loves her believe that she is indeed stupid. So getting back to yesterday, she once again had escaped the yard and when I was ready to go in, she appeared outside of the gate. I knew that I would have to make the walk to the gate but I was only wearing socks. I went inside to retrieve my slippers and headed back outside. When I opened the door, there sat Karma on the stoop. It had only taken me a couple of seconds to get the shoes and yet there she was as if she hadn't even had to think about how to get back inside the yard. No doubt the fact that it was 23 degrees out had hastened her return. I could not believe that she had probably known all along how to get back inside. Stupid dog...or maybe stupid me! Hmmmm?

Take A Whiff

One of my favorite memories as a child was going shopping at Sears. I can't remember anything in particular that I ever bought there in the way of clothing or toys, but that wasn't why I loved it. Once upon a time, department stores had candy counters. They sold chocolates and sugared jelly candies among other delicacies. It wasn't the sweets however that lured me to the counter. It was the popcorn. The minute we entered the store the smell of freshly popped corn wafted up from the basement candy counter. My mother usually had the money out before I even asked. I never turned down the opportunity to accompany my mother on her trips to Sears.

Today my daughter and granddaughter accompanied me to Target. As soon as the door opened I was overcome by the mouthwatering aroma of the freshly popped corn. Suddenly I was flooded with memories of Saturday morning shopping trips with my mother. Strange that it took me so long to make the connection, but when I closed my eyes and stood at the top of the stairs leading down to the selling floor it all came back. It was like going home again. If only there had been a candy counter instead of a Starbucks, I would have believed that I had traveled back in time.

Mmmmm, hot, salty, crispy, buttery popcorn!

Waiting

For Alivia my beautiful granddaughter. She doesn't hear as well as some people, but she is certainly not impaired. I pray that others will never see her that way, that they will always see her as the unique, wonder little girl who will someday grown into a very special woman.

Ebay

I hate ebayers. I don't hate the people that buy on ebay, it's some of the people that sell. I attend 3 - 4 Broadway shows a month. After the show we wait at the stage door to get our playbills signed by the actors. Without fail, there is always a group of 400 pound men already waiting at the barricades with their Duane Reade bags full of photos, poster and books waiting to get them signed. If the actor(s) are in a charitable mood, they will sign at least some of them. The next day they are for sale on ebay. As often as not though the actors are first greeted by these losers and can't get to the real fans without dealing with them first. It's a lose-lose situation. If they sign the massive amounts of souvenirs presented to them, then they will not reach all of the true fans and theater-goers. If they refuse to sign they are greeted by harassing remarks about how they don't appreciate their fans, making the celebrity look ungrateful. Occasionally, the crowd is small enough to satisfy everyone or the stage door manager can take care of the ebayers quietly.

Tonight I attended American Buffalo. We took a spot at the barricade beside one of these hated people. Soon he was joined by two of his 400 pound friends who literally squeezed in so tightly against me that I was unable to move. Just as I was being squeezed out of my prime spot by one of the "tub of lards" Kevin Spacey, who had gone backstage to see Haley Joel Osment, emerged from the stage door. Moving more quickly than I would have imagined possible, they took off after him in hopes of getting an autograph. Am I evil to have been happy to see that Mr. Spacey never slowed down when they approached him? When they gave up on their quest, it was no longer possible for them to take over my space. They did however, manage to obtain a couple of signed items from Haley, but everyone waiting was able to get their playbills signed and those requesting it got a picture with the stars. Kudos to Haley, John Leguizamo and Cedric the Entertainer, they could not have been nicer to their fans. It's a pity their show is a bomb.

It really is a shame that there is such a lucrative market for celebrity memorabilia. I wish there was some way to force these wolves to get off their fat asses and get a real job.

Apple Pickin'

We have been trying to make it to an apple orchard for several weeks and today we finally made it. One of the many advantages to living in the northeast is being able to drive through the beautiful countryside dressed in fall colors that will take your breath away. Add to that the opportunity to pick apples off a tree instead of off a stack in the produce department and it makes for an amazing day. Getting to the orchard was simple. We fell in love with almost every house we saw as we drove through the villages leading up to it.

Once there, we purchased a bag

for the apples and were given an apple picker to use. Now I am not a big lover of apples, but it broke my heart to see how many apples lay on the ground rotting. I can only imagine how many homeless and hungry children and adults could have feasted off the wasted fruit that lay on the ground. Alivia immediately went to work gathering apples off the ground. It's amazing how many apples a 13 month on a mission can carry. While Erin and I took turns using the picker, Alivia chose two perfectly ripe apples to munch on. I'm not sure what kind of apples we were picking, but one variety was small and dark red and so sweet and juicy that even I had to admit they were damn good. There were some that were a little larger that were not quite as red and some large red and yellow ones.

After about an hour, we were getting cold and tired so we wandered back down the hill and returned to the barn where we bought some old fashioned candy sticks, pumpkin muffins and canned dilly beans. It was a really fun day and we made a great memory.

Fall Has Fallen

Today I did a lesson in science about leaves and matter. It began with a read aloud about leaves and what occurs when leaves change colors. I then read a story to the kids about a leaf that wouldn't let go of the tree. Next we talked about matter and the properties of matter. Students were told that they would given three leaves to look at, touch, smell...after looking at their leaves they would fill out a chart about the properties they observed. Who would have guessed that children who have spent most if not all of their lives in the northeastern part of the United States would have become so excited when they were given their leaves. Most of the charts did not get finished because the children were having too much fun looking at and talking about their leaves. I was in a real leafy kind of mood when I arrived home to discover that the landlord had swept up a huge pile of leaves in front of our apartment. When we got out of the car, Alivia began playing in the wet leaves and the joy on her face was priceless. It amazing how much pleasure children, and adults, can derive from nature.

Crazy For Coffee

I love coffee. I could drink a couple of pots a day, but I limit myself to drinking only in the morning and only 4 cups. I tried giving it up this past summer and was successful until I went on a cruise. The sight and smell of hundreds of people drinking coffee was more than I could stand.

My favorite cup of coffee comes on the day I have to open a new can. It is like a ritual. I scrubbed the pot and filter like no other day. As I remove the foil seal, I have to have my face so close that I can hear the "whoosh" as I lift the seal. The smell of the grounds almost gives me chills. I miss the old days when my coffee of choice, Folger's Columbian, came in a metal can with a metal seal. I am content to use tap water for my coffee on any other day, but on new can day I want it made with bottled water.

I am old fashion in my coffee preferences. I like the plain old stuff. Occasionally I will try a flavored coffee, but good old Columbian with real sugar and Creamora is the best. No blue or pink packet which will leave an after taste. No Coffee Mate or store brand which does not dissolve into a creamy texture will do. Even real cream is not as smooth.

I LOVE coffee!

It's Over

Halloween is over for another year. Nothing left except a million calories worth of candy. Erin and Steve took Alivia trick-or-treating while I stayed and passed out candy. Actually, I passed out cool pencils with cool erasers and candy. There was this one bunch of kids, older elementary, who came by with their parents. As I put a pencil in each bag, I told the kids to wait that there was candy too. One of the older boys replied, "That's smart that you give the pencils first cause nobody would wait for a pencil, but they would wait for the candy." One of the girls said that her teacher would love me because she never has enough pencils. When I responded that I was a teacher, the first young man immediately went into student mode. "Yeah, I really like the pencil too. I mean the candy is good, but I really like the pencil." Funny moments earlier he said he wouldn't have waited for a pencil. Maybe teachers are the scariest things on Halloween.